3rd Monday of Lent (March 24). TRAVEL LIGHT

Prepare to Listen.  O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you.
 
Prayerfully Read Luke 9:1-6
Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.  3He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic.  4Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there.  5Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’  6They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
“Take nothing for your journey.”  How would you react if you were given this instruction before your journey?
 
Every time I travel, I promise myself I will travel light.  To date, I’ve always failed to keep my promise!  So, I fear I might react badly to Jesus’ instruction, “Take nothing for your journey.”  He sent his disciples to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, but they were travel light, in a very un-kingly way, “in complete poverty, relying entirely on what people give them as they continue Jesus’ own work of announcing the good news and healing those in need.”[1]  In other words, traveling light meant becoming vulnerable, willing to submit to the people to whom they were sent.
 
There are two important lessons in this passage for today’s evangelists, you and me.  First, like those inexperienced disciples, we too must learn to same work and proclaim the same message of Jesus.  Their proclamation and work was about the Kingdom, an alternate social order, nothing like we now know, that advocates, freedom, justice, health for all, not merely a privileged few.  Second, we too must learn to trust God for all our needs just as Jesus did, and asked his disciples to do.  Traveling light meant relying on others for support and sustenance, not lording it over the people, maintaining the upper hand.  Evangelizing the Jesus Way means we remain vulnerable and open, trusting only God.
 
What do you need to let go of so that you travel light, fully trusting God as you proclaim, by word and deed, the Good News?

Prayerfully Respond
Lord Jesus, I too need to learn the lesson of trusting you fully as I seek to proclaim your good news.  Keep me humble and ever learning.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Travel light as you live and proclaim the good news.
[1] Wright, N. T.  Luke for Everyone.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2001, p. 107.